Bahrain Darts Masters

The third edition of the Bahrain Darts Masters was held on 16 and 17 January. Eight PDC top players competed with 8 ‘local’ top players. Debutant Stephen Bunting managed to win the title for the first time.

The first round had just one surprise. Only Rob Cross, as a PDC top player, failed to win his first match. The Filipino Paolo Nebrida was too strong for ‘Voltage’ with 6-3. The newly crowned world champion Luke Littler won his first duel after the World Championship final with 6-3 against Lourence Ilagan, while reigning world champion Luke Humphries was the only player with an average above 100 (103.66). He defeated local hero Abdulla Saeed with 6-0. Stephen Bunting started the hunt for the title with a great 6-2 victory over a well-playing Nitin Kumar.

The quarter-finals were of a high standard. An unleashed Gerwyn Price wins 6-2 against Luke Littler and records an average of 115.31. Humphries (against Nathan Aspinall) and Bunting (against Chris Dobey) also record a 100+ average and advance to the semi-finals. Finally, Peter Wright also manages to qualify for the last four, after a 6-4 defeat to Paolo Nebrida.

The first semi-final between Humphries and Bunting is an exciting one: it is ‘The Bullet’ who manages to win 7-6 and will therefore play his first final in Bahrain. His opponent in that semi-final is Price, who manages to beat Wright 7-4. Bunting continues to play well and is also very strong in the final. Opponent Price is slightly less present and sees the Englishman take the title after an 8-4 victory.